Monday, June 25, 2012

Thank You Mizzus Romney!

This is a fairly obscure corner of France. Lots of walnuts and apples. Nice scenery, but you can't ski here and the Ocean is pretty far away. We've got history, but just north of here in The Correze is the center of the equestrian world of France, Pompadour. Every year rich horse owners from all over the world come here to rub elbows, live in chateaux and compete in the dressage events. It\s a good deal and a great tradition for a traditionally poor agricultural region.

Dressage is like "horse ballet". This move is called "le piaffe"a calm trot in place

Every year, Ann Romney appears and holds an open house. She ships her horse here and has a few permanently stabled in a luxury Harrass. This year, her prize horse, Rafalca is going to compete in the Olympics in London. Ralfaca already has taken a few prizes in Pompadour and in the Netherlands this year. It's a very special sport. Buit Ralfaca is only one of many horses that Ann owns, She has coyly admitted that Mittens doesn't even know how many horses she has. He doesn't care...It keeps her busy, it's uhh...therapy. (Please, don't make me attend a pity party for Ann Romney because her horsies are therapy for her MS, which is in remission. I guarantee you, I have more real first hand knowledge of the devastation that MS can cause a real American family than you can bear) And anyway, you know what, it hardly costs Mittens a red cent.Rafalca, alone, nets the family a $77,000 tax credit, $2,000 of which, according to Current's calculations, is for what they spent on health care for the horse. The average American family only spends $1,557 a year on health care. Current made an infrographic breaking down where exactly the $77,000 tax credit the Romneys registered for the horse on their 2010 returns breaks down when put up against the average American family. The tax credit for a child is only $1,000 so Rafalca is already 77 times more valuable than your little preciouses. And yes, the horse has a fantastic health care plan. Unsurprisingly, Rafalca outpaces the average family in shelter and transportation. A horse that's basically a fashion model with rhythm couldn't live in squalor or travel lightly. Rafalca pays about $2,400 a month for rent, versus the American family's $1,362. Rafalca also spends about ten times as much on clothing in the space of a year than the average family. It's hard out there for a dressage horse. The only category the American family outspends Rafalca on: food. Does this mean we need to retire the phrase "eat like a horse" and replace it with "eat like a family"?

Ann has had her problems with her hobby. She recently sold her old super star horse, Super Hit.

Last year, she was sued for fraud over Super Hit. She and her trainers, Jan and Amy Ebeling, sold Super Hit to Catherine Norris, and during the pre-sale examination of the horse, it was found that Super Hit was massively drugged up with four pain killers in her system. It was alleged by Norris that Romney and the Eberlings drugged the horse to cover the fact that the horse was incapable of preforming dressage, due to a chronic joint injury that resulted in several bouts of lameness between 2003 and 2008. The veterinarian examining the records of Super Hit was seemingly shocked by what he found. Three of the drugs found in Super Hit’s system were Butorphanol, Delomidine, Romifidine, and Xylatine, three of which were sedative pain killers, and the other of which was a narcotic pain killer: “In my 38 years of practice, I have never come across a drug screen such as this where the horse has been administered so many different medications at the same time. Super Hit’s drug screen finding would raise a significant concern for any veterinarian as to the way the horse presented during the examination on that day.” It would also raise significant concern over the people who owned the horse. An animal is a living thing, but to someone like Ann Romney, it’s a commodity to be traded, and if that can’t be done above board, it’s hardly surprising that she would take the other route.My advice to Ann, honey, there is another route...and if you want to make Mittens happy and help him with his little tax credibility problem, and frankly, create some real cool PR Buzz...and raise awareness for your passion, the sport of Dressage, think about this. How much did you make from selling Super Hit? You wanted to get rid of him anyway, right? You tried to scam someone and now you got a big problem. Here's what the rich horse owners of America should be doing....Give your old used up horses to the poor. A charity donation! Hell, think of the numbers for a tax write off!Instead of sending them to the glue factory, rich people can dump their old, lame or drugged-out horses on the poors and get a whopping tax write-off! I’m sure Ann’s people can find ways to get the public to pay the feed and vet bills. Those boys are so creative. Or set up a foundation to collect private donations (more tax write-offs!). “Broken-Down Horses for Broken-Down People” March, anyone?

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Art & Culture Touareg

Groupe Coordination Aude Mali

Groupe Coordination Aude Mali assists refugees from Timbuctu with their basic survival needs in the refugee camp in Djibo, Burkina-Faso.
Most of them have gone back to their homes near Timbuctu and GCAM has restarted our school with 4 classes.
We already have more than 70 students attending every day but we still need basic tools and food which GCAM provides. We also pay the salaries of the 2 teachers.
With your help we could do major repairs on buildings that are partially destroyed. You can help us financing this school. A small donation goes a very long way. Thank you so much!

Groupe Coordination Aude Mali is a non profit NGO based in France. Please make a donation to support the Touareg victims of the crisis in Mali. Thank you.

About Me

Well, okay...I'm a Detroit boy transplanted to the wilds of rural France, hacking my way through the cultural underbrush.
I am an artist, I was a rock musician, professional chef and a railroad drawbridge operator. I'm just here to help.